Battles of the Heart
by Kat-chan8806
Summary: Something's bothering Yumi, but can Ulrich help to fix the problem? Can he even accept that he is part of the problem? Yumi x Ulrich fic, with some William interference.
1. Realizing the Problem

Title: Battles of the Heart

Anime: Code Lyoko

Author: Kat-chan8806

A/N: Story is written in first person, Ulrich's point-of-view

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This is dedicated to a new-found friend of mine, Limited Heart. I know that she likes the Yumi/Ulrich pairing, so I couldn't resist writing this for her. Limited Heart, this's for you. Thanks for being my inspiration.

Now it's story time! Yay!

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Yumi and I have always been friends. We never said it, but there was a kind of concealed love between us. I guess we were both afraid of what would happen if we fell in love. We tried to be strong and live independently, without anyone by our sides. But now, I was thinking of breaking the unspoken agreement between us: we could not fall in love.

I now found myself standing outside her house. I didn't know why i was even there; I figured that she would rather be with William than me. I could hear the energetic voice of Yumi's little brother, Hiroki, taunting her: "Yumi's in love, Yumi's in love!" Although I could not hear any other words spoken aside from Hiroki's on-going chants, even this was silenced by the sharp sound of a bowl being slammed roughly on a surface. The silence lingered until I could hear a door bang closed and the quiet voices of Yumi's family talking amongst themselves. I thought that maybe I should come back at another time, but I quickly realized that this could be my chance: Yumi was upset, so I could cheer her up. I would be the one who was there for her when she needed someone. It would be me, not William. And so, with this in mind, I walked up to the door and knocked confidently on the door. Yumi's father answered the door. He was beyond puzzled.

I asked, as politely as i could, to speak with Yumi. Her father stared at me for a moment, as though trying to decide whether now would be a good time for me to see his daughter. After a few moments, however, he opened the door wider and beckoned me inside. "But be careful," he warned, "Yumi isn't in the best mood right now." But his Japanese accent made the sentence sound more like a proverb than a warning. I nodded solemnly and went to Yumi's door.

I could hear the angry sobs from where I stood. Yumi, crying? There was more to this than just anger at her brother's antics. Something must have been dreadfully wrong. If only I had known then what I know now. Maybe things would have worked out differently. As it is, well... I'll tell more about that later. In any event, I cautiously knocked on the door to Yumi's room. When she asked who was at the door, I told her it was me and I wanted to help. I could hear her footsteps on the floor briefly before the door creaked open. "Ulrich, what are you doing here?" It was the only question I didn't have an answer for.

She had invited me inside her room. We sat and talked. I was careful not to flat-out ask her what was wrong. I didn't need to mess this up. Then, after some time, I made my first mistake: I spoke too soon. I thought she had calmed down, I really did. But I was wrong, and it cost me. In a moment of innocent chatter, I let my guard down and the words slipped from my lips before I could stop them: "So, what were you crying about earlier?" From the look on her face, I wished I had never opened my mouth.

She began to cry. I didn't know what to do. Yumi was always such a strong girl, I had never imagined seeing her _cry_. Through her hands, she tried to tell me what awful event had caused her suffering, but her voice was muffled, and the only word I heard clearly was 'William.' I could have died, right then and there. Then again, if William was the one who had hurt her, I could have killed him, just as easily. William was my only competition, and I hated that he could have hurt the very girl we were fighting over.

But I had misjudged the situation. Yumi wasn't hurt by him. Or even by me. In fact, she was hurt by both of us. As she explained what was wrong, I started to think that killing myself wasn't such a bad idea after all, except, if I died then I could never apologize to Yumi for what William and I were doing to her. We were ripping out her heart, and neither of us had even realized it. Through our fighting over Yumi, we were, in fact, only hurting _her_. The very person we both wanted to protect. I guess love really _can_ blind people, because I knew that I couldn't see anything except my own pride, and, of course, Yumi. She was always on my mind. _Always_.

After Yumi explained that she was beginning to hate the constant competition between William and me, I made a decision: I had to end this constant battle between William and myself. I had to fight him one last time. Since Yumi couldn't decide between us, we would have to help her out a bit.

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A/N: This is DEFINITELY not finished, but I just wanted to post the beginnings of this story. If you read this, guys, then please review. I want to know what you think! I'll keep this going for Limited. I'll update soon, promise!


	2. A Temporary Fix

Title: Battles of the Heart

Chapter 2: A Temporary Fix

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After comforting Yumi, I found myself walking down the street, my thoughts running free. I had to find William. I just had to. This had gone too far. After moments, I saw the school ahead of me. It was growing dark, but I could still see a faint figure by the light of the moon. As I approached, the figure regained it features, and I almost fell back in surprise: it was William. I walked closer to him, my fists instinctively clenching, even though I didn't want a fight. We could discuss this like men, right? Well, that had been the intention, at least…

"William!" I shouted, running up behind him. He turned around. I thought of Yumi, how she hated the fighting between William and myself. I thought of what our competition had done to her. I loved her, so how could I let William hurt her like this? That's right. William did it. Within a few seconds' thought, the whole ordeal became William's fault. In my mind, I was no longer the one to blame. It was all him, and he was going to pay.

He looked at me with an expression of confusion; he had no idea what was going on in my brain. Nor would he have wanted to know. I normally would have never just started a fight with someone. I had held a grudge against William for so long, and yet I had never once hit him. But this time I did, even though I knew I would regret it later. William was almost smiling. He probably thought I had lost my mind, which, as a matter of fact, I had. Without a word, I grabbed his lower arm; he was a little bit bigger than me, so I couldn't reach his shoulder. His expression changed to shock. That was good; I had the element of surprise. I brought his arm down roughly, pulling him forward as I backed up a step, allowing him a clear view of the ground. He obviously had no intention of hitting the ground, though, because his other arm flew in front of him to keep him up and before i had realized what had happened, the arm I was holding on to was jerked underneath his chest and I didn't have the immediate sense to let go. I was the one on the ground, looking up at the face of the boy I had hated for so long. The boy that had hurt Yumi. Or, at the very least, the boy I _blamed_. My instincts weren't up to par that day, and I was easily overpowered. William wrenched his arm from my grasp and rewarded my with a punch in the gut. I felt the air escape my lungs. Normally, he would have gladly ground me into the pavement, but he apparently didn't want to fight, which made me that much more angry. It seemed as though he was searching my face, looking in my eyes, trying to find an explanation, and even in the retreating light, I think he could tell what was bothering me. With a shake of his head, he stood and walked away in silence.

The next day, I met Yumi before classes started. The rest of the group had already left for Mrs. Hertz's class. But not Yumi and me. We had something to talk about. We both knew it.

"Ulrich..." I knew from the way she said my name that I had done something wrong. Did she know that I fought with William the night before? But how?

"Yumi, I... I didn't..." My mind was frantically trying to come up with an excuse, but it was futile, I could think of nothing to say.

"Ulrich, do you... have anything planned for tomorrow?" I didn't immediately understand. Then I remembered: it was a Friday. We had the weekend coming up. So she didn't know about the fight the night before. I was glad, and I happily agreed to accompany her to a concert the next night.

The day seemed to drag by. I kept watching the clock, willing it to move faster, but, of course, it didn't. Then, after what seemed to me like five eternities, the bell rang and the school day was over. I drifted through the rest of the day. I had won. After all the time I spent thinking of being with Yumi, it was finally happening. In less than twenty-four hours, I would be at a concert with Yumi. If only I had known what would happen. Maybe I wouldn't have been so excited about going to the concert, but that's one of the pains of life: you never know what's going to happen until it's too late. And that's what happened to me...

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A/N: Next chapter coming soon. Tell me what you think so far.


	3. The Storyteller's Conclusion

Title: Battles of the Heart

Chapter 3: The Storyteller's Conclusion

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That Friday seemed like the slowest day of my life. I can only vaguely remember the events of that day, but I guess they aren't important anyway. The last thing I really remember was going to sleep that night, tossing and turning. I was controlled by anticipation, thinking that my date with Yumi was going to be the best night of my life; listening to the band, watching each other, and just having fun. Man, was I mistaken.

About fifteen hours later, I was dressing for the concert. For the first time in my life, I didn't know what to wear. After asking Odd and Aelita for advice, I ended up wearing black; I had to match Yumi. Besides, both Yumi and William wore black all the time, so I could stand it for one night, at least. I have to admit: I looked strange. I wasn't used to looking this depressing, but Odd and Aelita said I looked nice. Even Jeremie gave his approval, and then I was off. I made a direct route for Yumi's house. I knocked on the door and almost immediately, the door flung open. Yumi's mother was standing in the doorway.

"H-hello, Mrs. Ishiyama. May I see Yumi?"

She took my arm and led me inside. "Yes, of course. Yumi! Ulrich's here!"

I waited at the foot of the stairs. Within moments, Yumi was by my side wearing, as I guessed she would, a 'little black dress.' She looked stunning, and I had to struggle for my breath.

"Hey, Ulrich. Are you ready to go?" I nodded in reply, and her parents waved as we left.

The concert was loud, just the way I liked it. Yumi was enjoying herself, too. At first, things were going great. We shared a soda and sang along loudly to the songs we knew. We were in the front, right in front of the stage, and we could almost smell the band. The moment seemed perfect; we were dancing wildly, along with the rest of the crowd, and Yumi was smiling at me. I smiled back and took her hand while we danced. The rest of the crowd was screaming loudly with the music, but I found that I could hardly even hear the band anymore. I was too concentrated on Yumi. But then, the trouble started...

There was a hand on my shoulder. Turning around, I saw the last person I had expected.

"William." My voice was probably deadly, but I could barely even hear myself over the crowd and the band.

"Ulrich, do you mind if I have a moment alone with Yumi?" It was an innocent question, but it made my heart skip a beat. I knew what he was trying to do.

"Why can't you just go away?" The question was out of my mouth before my brain had finished processing it. Mistake number one.

William raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? I have just as much right to be here as you do."

Before I had time to think, I had grabbed him by the arm and had started to pull him through the crowd. There was no way I was going to let him follow us here and make Yumi choose between us; she had been forced to do that too much already. I couldn't see Yumi hurt anymore. I still hadn't realized that I, too, was part of the problem. I was naive and I was about to make the worst mistake of the night.

When I had gotten William away from the crowd (he could have easily broken away from my grip at any moment), I finally turned to face him. "Stop hurting Yumi." It was a senseless statement, still, I was angry when he asked me what I was talking about. "Yumi can't choose between us. One of us has to give up, adn I was meant to be with her, so just back off. You're hurting her by making her choose!"

His face was calm. "I'm not the only one making her choose between us." I didn't understand. Was he accusing me? How dare he! Before I knew what had happened, I had pounced on him and was throwing wil punches at his face. With a sweep of his arm, he knocked me off of him and gained a position above me. Rather than hitting me, he tried to give me a piece of wisdom. If I hadn't been so senseless, I might have listened, but he said: "You don't have to fight for Yumi, at least not against me. I'm not the one causing her pain." I jerked under his grasp, interrupting him. He simply pinned my shoulders tighter to the ground and continued, speaking quickly just in case I broke free from him. "It's not just me. I'm not the one that's jealous, you are. It's your fault, too, Ulrich. You hurt her, too!" These words shocked me to a point of stillness. How oculd I have hurt her? I just wanted what was best for her. And then it hit me: how could I possibly know what was best for her? How could I pretend to do anything 'in her best interest'? Is this not the mistake that many men make? Because of this belief, I had made an enemy of William, and had pretty much smothered Yumi with my presence. No wonder she was crying. My body went limp. I felt William let go of me, but I stayed on the ground. Even after I knew William was gone, I stayed there, on the ground, thinking over what I had discovered.

When I finally found the courage to stand again, I felt weak. I had hurt the one and only person I cared about. I scanned the crowd and found Yumi standing alone in front of the stage. In a daze, I walked toward her. Where was William? Had he left? Why? When I reached Yumi, she greeted me and asked what had happened between William and me. I only told her that William helped me to see what I had done to her. Then, she smiled. As the band started a slower song, I held Yumi in my arms. We whispered to each other, and I swore to her that I would never be overprotective of her again, because I knew that it only brought about trouble. I knew that I shouldn't try to keep her away from everyone that I consider threatening. I could no longer be threatened by every boy that showed interest in Yumi, because we belonged together. After all those years of ignoring it, we both accepted it: we were in love.

Now, I bet you're wondering what was so awful. It doesn't sound so bad, right? Well, I'm not finished yet. The night wasn't over yet. There were still many hours left until dawn, and we planned to enjoy every last minute. But when the concert was over, and we were leaving, something unexpected happened. Yumi and I were walking down the street toward the school (the concert was within walking distance of Kadic Academy), and we were talking to each other about random things. It's funny how, after something tragic happens, you can remember everything that happened in the minutes preceeding. I remember talking with Yumi about Lyoko, and Jeremie and Aelita, and how we had spent so much time runing away from love. But then it happened. XANA attacked. Neither one of us knew it; we had our cell phones turned off during the concert, and later, I found out that Jeremie had tried to call us. XANA had sent monsters into our world again, and there we stood, staring at a Krabe. Why was it always a _Krabe_? Both of us were too shocked to move. Before I could even think, the Krabe had shot a laser at Yumi. My eyes widened as she screamed.

"Yumi!" I knelt beside her as she fell to the ground. I winced as I saw the hole in her chest, blood pouring from the new wound. The Krabe charged for another shot. I picked up Yumi, craddling her in my arms and, after swearing vengence, ran away. I ran all the way to Yumi's house (it wasn't too far) and, having my hands full, I kicked at the door with my foot. Yumi's father answered the door and, upon seeing his daughter, rushed me inside. I sat Yumi down ont he couch and Mrs. Ishiyama called an ambulance, which arrived moments after the call. I rode silently with Yumi, holding her hand in mine the whole way to the hospital while Jeremie, Aelita, and Odd saved the world.

After a Return to the Past, Yumi's wound was still intact. Even now, we still don't know why her injury wasn't reversed. She had to be taken to the emergency room, and that is where I am now. As I'm telling you this story, I'm sitting beside my dear Yumi. Her heart, which has more than a chunk taken out of it, is beating so faintly that it is barely registering on the monitor. It's been two days since the Krabe blasted her, and she's strong to have held on as long as she has. William has been coming in and out of the room, checking on Yumi every time he gets the chance, but I know that he knows this: when Yumi opens her eyes, I'm going to be the first person she sees.

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A/N: That's the end. There's nothing more I can add. Ulrich has told his story, and my job here is done. I hope you liked this fanfic, so review and tell me if you did or not. 'Till next time!


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